September 16, 2025 • 15 mins
The tech world is abuzz with Apple's latest operating system, and we're cutting through the noise to deliver what truly matters about iOS 26. This revolutionary update introduces "Liquid Glass" - a bold new design language that transforms every visual element of your iPhone experience with translucent layers, softer corners, and immersive textures that might even hint at Apple's spatial computing future.
We explore how the lock screen becomes a canvas for personalization with interactive clocks, 3D spatial scenes that add depth to ordinary photos, and freely positioned widgets. The home screen transformation continues with three distinct icon styles - Clear, Default, and Tinted - allowing unprecedented customization. But these visual changes haven't been universally celebrated, with some users reporting inconsistent transparencies and reduced readability that draw unflattering comparisons to Windows Vista.
Beyond aesthetics, Apple Intelligence represents a fundamental shift in how AI integrates with your daily life. Unlike competitors, Apple runs these features directly on your device through their foundation models framework, prioritizing privacy while enabling impressive capabilities. Live Translation breaks down language barriers across Messages, FaceTime, and even in real-time conversations through compatible AirPods. Visual Intelligence transforms screenshots into interactive tools, while creative features like Genmoji and Image Playground unlock new forms of expression.
We don't shy away from the downsides - the significant device requirements that limit Apple Intelligence to iPhone 15 Pro and newer models, potential battery life implications acknowledged by Apple themselves, and the compatibility cutoff that leaves iPhone XS and XR users behind. Our deep dive includes practical advice for managing these concerns, along with detailed walkthroughs of improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Photos, and more.
Whether you're excited about customizing your digital experience, leveraging powerful AI tools, or simply wondering if the update is worth it for your specific device, our comprehensive analysis helps you navigate what could be Apple's most transformative iOS update in years. Subscribe to hear more episodes exploring how technology shapes our daily lives and what these changes reveal about our digital future.
Leave your thoughts in the comments and subscribe for more tech updates and reviews.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Allan (00:00):
Welcome back to the Deep Dive.
Ida (00:02):
Okay, so the buzz around iOS 26,.
It's been pretty intense, right.
Allan (00:07):
Oh, absolutely Huge expectations.
Ida (00:09):
We're hearing major update, big visual changes and some
serious smarts under the hood.
Allan (00:16):
That's the promise.
Ida (00:17):
So today we're going to cut through all that noise.
We want to get into what'sreally new, why it matters and
how you can actually use it.
Does it live up to the hype foryour day-to-day?
Allan (00:26):
Exactly, and we've been digging through well everything
Guides, tutorials, expert takesfrom places like 9to5Mac,
macrumors.
Ida (00:36):
Lots of user chatter too, I bet, oh yeah.
Allan (00:38):
The early feedback's been rolling in.
And look it's ambitious, nodoubt about it.
A big push on looks andfunction.
Ida (00:43):
Okay, let's start with the thing you see right away, the
visuals.
Apple's calling it liquid glass.
It seems like it's everywhereIcons, menus, navigation bars.
Allan (00:52):
It really is a system-wide aesthetic.
Think more translucency, softercorners, these kind of pop-out
menus they've introduced.
Ida (00:59):
It's definitely a statement Pretty bold.
Allan (01:01):
It is.
What's interesting, I think, isit's not just tweaking apps
here and there.
It feels like a unified designlanguage across the whole OS.
Ida (01:10):
Like a foundational thing.
Allan (01:11):
Yeah, exactly.
Ida (01:12):
Yeah.
Allan (01:12):
Maybe even you know a subtle nod towards spatial
computing.
But on your phone screen,pushing those immersive textures
could be prepping us for moreVision Pro integration down the
line.
Who knows?
Ida (01:23):
Hmm, interesting angle, and you see this straight away on
the lock screen right.
It's not just static anymore.
Allan (01:28):
Not at all.
It's way more interactive.
You can put that liquid glasseffect right on the clock.
Ida (01:32):
Pick fonts colors, resize it.
Allan (01:34):
Yep, make it bigger, smaller, match your wallpaper,
real personalization for thatfirst glance.
Ida (01:40):
And the photos, the 3D spatial scenes thing Right.
Allan (01:43):
So you take a normal 2D photo.
And now, if you tilt your phoneslightly, it gets depth like
it's moving.
Exactly, a subtle motioncreates a sense of depth.
It looks cool, definitely.
The question is, you know, isit useful or just flashy?
Ida (01:57):
Good point, but the widgets moving is definitely useful.
Allan (02:02):
You can put them at the bottom now, anywhere at the
bottom, not just jammed underthe clock anymore.
That's a practical win for sureokay, so for you listening.
Ida (02:08):
If you want to play with this, just long press on your
lockscreen.
It pulls up the customizationoptions pretty easily super
intuitive and it doesn't stopthere.
Right, the home screen gets amakeover to icon styles.
Oh yeah, couple options.
Allan (02:21):
there's clear, which is like totally transparent glass,
lets your wallpaper really showthrough.
Then default, which is new, tosort of a stacked textured glass
look and tinted, which addsthis subtle translucent color
overlay kind of unifies the look.
Ida (02:37):
And you can match that tint to your phone or your case.
Allan (02:40):
You can.
If you've got a specific coloriPhone or an Apple case, you can
sync the eye content.
It's all about layers ofpersonalization they didn't have
before.
Ida (02:49):
Making it feel like your phone.
So quick tip, long press thehome screen, hit edit, then
customize.
You can mess around with allthese styles there.
Allan (02:58):
And you can tone down the transparency too, if liquid
glass is a bit much for you.
Ida (03:02):
Which is good, because, well, the reaction hasn't been
universally positive, has it?
It seems kind of divisive.
Allan (03:08):
That's fair to say.
It's definitely a mixed bag inthe early feedback.
Ida (03:12):
What are the main complaints?
Just looks, or is it causingproblems?
Allan (03:17):
It's a bit of both, Based on the reports.
People were mentioning thingslike inconsistent transparencies
.
Sometimes it looks different indifferent places.
Ida (03:25):
Okay, I kind of see that being annoying.
Allan (03:26):
Reduced readability is another one.
Yeah, Text maybe not standingout as much against those glassy
backgrounds and even somestuttering animations.
Ida (03:35):
Oof, not what you want.
Allan (03:37):
No, and you know the comparisons to Windows Vista's
Arrow UI.
Wow bringing out the big guns.
Yeah, it sounds harsh, but itpoints to this idea that maybe
the visual flair is sometimes,you know, getting in the way of
that super smooth performanceApple's known for.
It's a tricky balance.
Ida (03:53):
Definitely OK.
So that's the surface layer,the liquid glass.
But what's going on underneaththe brains of this update?
Allan (03:59):
Right, apple intelligence .
This is where I think thereally big shifts are happening.
Even though Apple's kind ofadmitted they were playing catch
up a bit in AI, this feelsdifferent.
It feels like they're baking AIdeep into the core experience.
Now.
Ida (04:12):
And a big part of that which everyone cares about is
privacy.
This foundation modelsframework.
Why is that such a big deal?
Allan (04:19):
OK, yeah, this is crucial .
So this framework lets appshook directly into Apple's AI
model that runs on your device.
Ida (04:27):
On the phone itself.
Allan (04:28):
Yeah.
Not sending data out Exactlyyour prompts, your requests.
They never leave your iPhone.
That's huge for privacy,obviously, but it's also like a
serious technical achievement,pushing what the chip can do.
Ida (04:40):
So potentially faster AI features too.
Allan (04:43):
Yeah.
Ida (04:43):
And ones that work offline Potentially yeah.
Allan (04:45):
More secure, always available.
It could really change how weinteract with AI on our phones.
Ida (04:49):
Game changer, okay, and for people who love automation,
shortcuts.
Allan (04:53):
Oh yeah, shortcuts get a massive boost.
You can now embed Appleintelligence directly into them.
Ida (04:58):
Like, use the writing tools or image, playground or even
chat GPT.
Allan (05:04):
All of the above.
You build it right into yourautomated flows.
This could genuinely changeworkflows, make complex stuff
happen with just a tap.
Ida (05:12):
Seriously recommend people check that out then, even if
automation seems a bit daunting.
Allan (05:17):
Definitely it could save you a ton of time on everyday
tasks.
Turn those multi-step thingsinto one-button actions.
Ida (05:23):
Nice.
Okay, sticking with making thephone smarter.
Language barriers Livetranslation looks pretty
impressive.
Allan (05:31):
It really does.
It's integrated across theboard.
Now Messages.
It'll auto-translate text backand forth FaceTime.
You get live captions poppingup Phone calls, spoken
translations.
Ida (05:43):
And the AirPods thing.
That sounds kind of sci-fi.
How does that work?
Allan (05:46):
Right.
So if you have the rightAirPods that's Pro 2, pro 3, or
AirPods 4, with noisecancellation and the latest
firmware, you can have areal-time face-to-face
conversation with someonespeaking another language.
You speak, your AirPodstranslate into their ear.
They speak, it translates backinto yours.
Ida (06:02):
Whoa, that's incredible.
It removes a lot of friction.
Allan (06:05):
Totally.
And, on a related note, appleIntelligence is summarizing
voicemails.
Now, too Little summaries popup with the missed call.
Saves you listening to thewhole thing.
Ida (06:15):
That's handy.
What languages are we talkingfor live translation?
Allan (06:19):
For the AirPods feature.
It's starting with English,french, german, portuguese and
Spanish Messages.
Supports a wider set includingChinese, italian, japanese,
korean.
More are likely coming.
Ida (06:32):
So definitely worth turning on automatically translate in
messages or grabbing thosecompatible AirPods if you talk
to people internationally.
Allan (06:40):
Absolutely.
And then there's visualintelligence.
It's not just for your photosanymore.
Ida (06:44):
It works on screenshots now .
Allan (06:45):
Yeah, take a screenshot and visual intelligence can
identify stuff in it.
Search for similar imagesonline or even like ask chat,
gpt questions about what's onyour screen.
Ida (06:55):
Turn a screenshot into like an interactive search Pretty
much.
Allan (06:58):
It's making static images much more dynamic and useful.
You can even spot dates, times,locations and screenshots and
suggest calendar events.
Ida (07:05):
Oh, that's smart.
Currently just for Englishimages.
You said.
Allan (07:08):
For the calendar suggestions.
Yeah, starting with English.
So for you, take a screenshot,tap the preview and look for
those.
Ask, search or highlight tosearch options.
Super quick way to get info.
Ida (07:19):
Love it.
Okay, let's talk fun stuff.
Genmoji image playground.
Allan (07:24):
Yeah, the creative side gets a boost too.
Genmoji lets you mash upexisting emoji, two or more.
Add some text, maybe to createtotally new ones.
Ida (07:32):
Like a custom emoji generator.
Allan (07:34):
Kind of, and you can even tweak expressions using faces
from your photos library, whichis slightly weird, but also kind
of cool.
Ida (07:40):
Uh-huh, okay so robot emoji plus party papa, plus my dog's
face.
Theoretically yes, thepossibilities are pretty wild,
and Image Playground getsOpenAI's image generator built
in so you can use presets likewatercolor oil or just type what
you want.
Allan (07:56):
Exactly Create images from text prompts or use it to
generate messages, backgrounds,even Genmoji, directly within
Image Playground.
Ida (08:02):
Okay, how do you get started with Genmoji?
Allan (08:04):
Easiest way is in messages.
Tap the emoji button, then hitGenmoji.
Try mixing like an emotion withan object.
You get ways.
In messages.
Tap the emoji button, then hitGinmoji.
Try mixing like an emotion withan object.
You get some fun results.
Ida (08:12):
Will do Now the catch All this cool AI stuff.
Allan (08:17):
Ah, yes, the catch.
It's a big one.
Ida (08:20):
It doesn't work on all phones running iOS 26.
Allan (08:22):
Nope, these specific Apple intelligence features, the
advanced stuff we've beentalking about, requiring an
iPhone 15 Pro or newer.
Ida (08:30):
Wow, so iPhone 15 standard doesn't get it, or iPhone 14 Pro
no.
Allan (08:34):
Meets the 15 Pro chip or better, it definitely creates a
split in the user base.
How Apple manages that goingforward will be interesting to
watch.
Ida (08:42):
Huge detail for listeners.
Okay, shifting gears slightly.
The practical stuff batterylife performance Always a worry
with major updates.
Apple actually put out astatement right.
Allan (08:51):
They did, yeah, basically explaining why you might see
your battery draining fasterright after updating to iOS 26.
Ida (08:58):
And it's normal.
Allan (08:59):
It is initially.
Your phone gets warmer, batterydrains quicker.
It's doing a lot in thebackground indexing files,
downloading stuff, updating apps.
All that setup work.
Ida (09:08):
So don't panic, right away.
Allan (09:09):
Exactly, Give it a day or two.
It should settle down.
Ida (09:12):
But they also mentioned longer term impacts.
Allan (09:14):
Yeah, they acknowledged that if you heavily use the new,
more demanding features, itcould have a longer-term effect
because, well, those featuresneed more power.
They said it depends onindividual usage, which is
careful wording.
Ida (09:27):
Very careful and there's speculation, isn't there, that
maybe the liquid glass lookitself is part of the issue.
Allan (09:33):
There is Some testers and users are suggesting that this
visually intensive UI you knowall the translucency and effects
might just inherently use moreprocessing power, potentially
impacting battery lifepermanently for some users.
Ida (09:47):
So the statement might be partly covering for the visual
demands, not just the AI.
Allan (09:52):
It's possible it could be Apple managing expectations,
acknowledging that this fancynew look has a resource cost,
even if you're not hammering theAI features.
Ida (10:00):
Interesting.
So practical advice let yourphone settle for a few days
post-update If the drainpersists.
Think about how you're usingthose new features and maybe
check out adaptive power mode insettings.
Allan (10:11):
Good call.
It can help manage thingsautomatically.
Ida (10:13):
Okay, let's dive into some app specifics.
Messages got more than justtranslation, right.
Allan (10:19):
Oh yeah, custom backgrounds for chats
Individually for people orgroups.
Ida (10:24):
Nice.
But wait, everyone in the chatsees the background you set.
Allan (10:29):
They do so choose wisely, especially for work chats.
Ida (10:33):
Definitely noted.
How do you set them?
Allan (10:35):
Tap the name at the top of the chat, then backgrounds,
and you can also turn off seeingother people's custom
backgrounds if you find themdistracting.
Ida (10:43):
Good option.
What else in messages?
Allan (10:46):
Polls.
You can create polls rightinside a chat now and typing
indicators.
Finally, come to group chats.
Ida (10:51):
How about time for typing indicators?
Okay, phone app.
Allan (10:55):
A couple of really useful things.
Call screening lets your iPhoneask unknown callers for their
name and why they're callingbefore it rings for you.
Great for spam.
Ida (11:03):
Oh, that's brilliant.
Allan (11:05):
And an on hold tool.
If you put on hold, your phonewill basically wait for you and
alert you when a real personcomes back on the line.
Ida (11:11):
That might be the best feature yet.
Saves so much time.
Allan (11:14):
Where do you turn on call screening?
Ida (11:16):
In phone section of the settings app.
Definitely worth enabling and.
Allan (11:20):
AirPods besides the translation Right, assuming
you've got the firmware updateon those compatible models Pro 2
, pro 3, airpods 4.
You get auto-pausing if youfall asleep wearing them and you
can use them as a remoteshutter for your iPhone camera.
Ida (11:34):
Handy Safari updates.
Allan (11:36):
Mostly the liquid glass.
Look rolling out there.
Some tab bar tweaks, usualprivacy enhancements.
Quick tip If you hate the newcompact tab bar, you can switch
back to the old style and Safarisettings.
Ida (11:48):
Good to know Apple Maps.
Allan (11:50):
Getting smarter?
What Learns your commute, givesbetter traffic alerts, saves
location history.
If you wanted to Morepersonalized, Notes and
reminders.
Notes gets weirdly specificwith 3d graphics.
Support for three variableequations.
Ida (12:02):
Sheesh very.
Allan (12:03):
Yeah, reminders apparently has some hidden Apple
intelligence stuff lending yourhabits.
Camera app UI changed quite abit too for switching modes and
accessing settings, streamliningthings time new card style,
look call screening.
Like the app, an option toblock nudity, useful for kids'
devices and those livetranslation captions.
Apple Music gets auto-mix forsmoother transitions between
(12:25):
songs.
Like a DJ Plus, lyrictranslation and pronunciation
features More interactive.
Ida (12:31):
Photos I heard good news here.
Allan (12:33):
Yes, big one for many users.
Collections and Photos Libraryare back to being separate tabs,
undoing a previous changepeople didn't love, and it
supports those spatial scenestoo.
Great Podcasts app, liquidglass design, naturally, new
playback speed controls and somedialogue enhancement features
to make voices clearer.
Ida (12:52):
Wallet anything major.
Allan (12:53):
Digital passports are starting to be supported in some
places and boarding passes areimproved, apparently integrating
better Plus a whole new appGames.
Ida (13:02):
Oh, a dedicated Games app pre-installed, Yep.
Allan (13:05):
Pulls together your App Store games.
Apple Arcade stuff has socialfeatures too One central hub for
gaming.
Ida (13:10):
And finally alarms and ringtones.
Anything new.
Allan (13:13):
New reflections, variations for ringtones and a
new alarm sound called LittleBird.
And maybe the best tip, you canfinally customize this news
duration no way, not just nineminutes yep, one minute, five,
ten up to fifteen your choicenow in the clock app hallelujah,
okay, crucial question timecompatibility.
Ida (13:33):
Who gets left out with iOS 26?
Allan (13:35):
yeah, unfortunately it's the end of the line for the
iPhone XS, XS Max and the iPhoneXR.
They won't get iOS 26.
Ida (13:42):
Okay, xs and XR series out.
Bummer for those folks who doesget it.
Allan (13:46):
Good news is it's a pretty wide range, starts from
the iPhone 11 series goes allthe way up to the latest iPhone
17 series Air Pro, romaxincluded, and the iPhone SE
second generation and newer.
Ida (13:58):
So most phones from the last what five or six years are
covered.
Allan (14:02):
Generally yeah, but and we have to stress this again-
the Apple intelligence features.
Exactly.
Just because your phone runsiOS 26 doesn't mean you get all
the flashy AI stuff thatrequires the iPhone 15 Pro or
newer.
It creates that clear feature.
Divine Got it.
Ida (14:16):
But so, wrapping this up, we've covered the liquid glass
visuals, the powerful Appleintelligence features and who
gets them battery life stuff,tons of app updates.
Allan (14:24):
It's a massive update, no question.
Ida (14:26):
So for you listening, iOS 26 offers a real mix New
aesthetics, some potentiallygame-changing AI tools, lots of
practical tweaks.
It's really about making youriPhone potentially smarter, more
personal, maybe more efficient.
Allan (14:39):
And as these devices get smarter, with AI running right
on the phone, privately, it doesmake you think, doesn't it?
How does this change ourrelationship with technology,
these private, local AIs?
What are the unexpectedbenefits going to be?
Or maybe, what are thetradeoffs we haven't even
thought of yet, as your phonebecomes less of a tool and more
(15:00):
of a?
Well an intelligent companion.
Ida (15:03):
Definitely something to ponder as you start exploring
iOS 12 and 6 on your own device.
That's been our deep dive fortoday.
Hope you feel ready to tackleall the new features.
Allan (15:10):
Yeah, dive in and see what works for you.
Ida (15:11):
Until next time, keep exploring.
Welcome back to the Deep Dive.
Ida (00:02):
Okay, so the buzz around iOS 26,.
It's been pretty intense, right.
Allan (00:07):
Oh, absolutely Huge expectations.
Ida (00:09):
We're hearing major update, big visual changes and some
serious smarts under the hood.
Allan (00:16):
That's the promise.
Ida (00:17):
So today we're going to cut through all that noise.
We want to get into what'sreally new, why it matters and
how you can actually use it.
Does it live up to the hype foryour day-to-day?
Allan (00:26):
Exactly, and we've been digging through well everything
Guides, tutorials, expert takesfrom places like 9to5Mac,
macrumors.
Ida (00:36):
Lots of user chatter too, I bet, oh yeah.
Allan (00:38):
The early feedback's been rolling in.
And look it's ambitious, nodoubt about it.
A big push on looks andfunction.
Ida (00:43):
Okay, let's start with the thing you see right away, the
visuals.
Apple's calling it liquid glass.
It seems like it's everywhereIcons, menus, navigation bars.
Allan (00:52):
It really is a system-wide aesthetic.
Think more translucency, softercorners, these kind of pop-out
menus they've introduced.
Ida (00:59):
It's definitely a statement Pretty bold.
Allan (01:01):
It is.
What's interesting, I think, isit's not just tweaking apps
here and there.
It feels like a unified designlanguage across the whole OS.
Ida (01:10):
Like a foundational thing.
Allan (01:11):
Yeah, exactly.
Ida (01:12):
Yeah.
Allan (01:12):
Maybe even you know a subtle nod towards spatial
computing.
But on your phone screen,pushing those immersive textures
could be prepping us for moreVision Pro integration down the
line.
Who knows?
Ida (01:23):
Hmm, interesting angle, and you see this straight away on
the lock screen right.
It's not just static anymore.
Allan (01:28):
Not at all.
It's way more interactive.
You can put that liquid glasseffect right on the clock.
Ida (01:32):
Pick fonts colors, resize it.
Allan (01:34):
Yep, make it bigger, smaller, match your wallpaper,
real personalization for thatfirst glance.
Ida (01:40):
And the photos, the 3D spatial scenes thing Right.
Allan (01:43):
So you take a normal 2D photo.
And now, if you tilt your phoneslightly, it gets depth like
it's moving.
Exactly, a subtle motioncreates a sense of depth.
It looks cool, definitely.
The question is, you know, isit useful or just flashy?
Ida (01:57):
Good point, but the widgets moving is definitely useful.
Allan (02:02):
You can put them at the bottom now, anywhere at the
bottom, not just jammed underthe clock anymore.
That's a practical win for sureokay, so for you listening.
Ida (02:08):
If you want to play with this, just long press on your
lockscreen.
It pulls up the customizationoptions pretty easily super
intuitive and it doesn't stopthere.
Right, the home screen gets amakeover to icon styles.
Oh yeah, couple options.
Allan (02:21):
there's clear, which is like totally transparent glass,
lets your wallpaper really showthrough.
Then default, which is new, tosort of a stacked textured glass
look and tinted, which addsthis subtle translucent color
overlay kind of unifies the look.
Ida (02:37):
And you can match that tint to your phone or your case.
Allan (02:40):
You can.
If you've got a specific coloriPhone or an Apple case, you can
sync the eye content.
It's all about layers ofpersonalization they didn't have
before.
Ida (02:49):
Making it feel like your phone.
So quick tip, long press thehome screen, hit edit, then
customize.
You can mess around with allthese styles there.
Allan (02:58):
And you can tone down the transparency too, if liquid
glass is a bit much for you.
Ida (03:02):
Which is good, because, well, the reaction hasn't been
universally positive, has it?
It seems kind of divisive.
Allan (03:08):
That's fair to say.
It's definitely a mixed bag inthe early feedback.
Ida (03:12):
What are the main complaints?
Just looks, or is it causingproblems?
Allan (03:17):
It's a bit of both, Based on the reports.
People were mentioning thingslike inconsistent transparencies
.
Sometimes it looks different indifferent places.
Ida (03:25):
Okay, I kind of see that being annoying.
Allan (03:26):
Reduced readability is another one.
Yeah, Text maybe not standingout as much against those glassy
backgrounds and even somestuttering animations.
Ida (03:35):
Oof, not what you want.
Allan (03:37):
No, and you know the comparisons to Windows Vista's
Arrow UI.
Wow bringing out the big guns.
Yeah, it sounds harsh, but itpoints to this idea that maybe
the visual flair is sometimes,you know, getting in the way of
that super smooth performanceApple's known for.
It's a tricky balance.
Ida (03:53):
Definitely OK.
So that's the surface layer,the liquid glass.
But what's going on underneaththe brains of this update?
Allan (03:59):
Right, apple intelligence .
This is where I think thereally big shifts are happening.
Even though Apple's kind ofadmitted they were playing catch
up a bit in AI, this feelsdifferent.
It feels like they're baking AIdeep into the core experience.
Now.
Ida (04:12):
And a big part of that which everyone cares about is
privacy.
This foundation modelsframework.
Why is that such a big deal?
Allan (04:19):
OK, yeah, this is crucial .
So this framework lets appshook directly into Apple's AI
model that runs on your device.
Ida (04:27):
On the phone itself.
Allan (04:28):
Yeah.
Not sending data out Exactlyyour prompts, your requests.
They never leave your iPhone.
That's huge for privacy,obviously, but it's also like a
serious technical achievement,pushing what the chip can do.
Ida (04:40):
So potentially faster AI features too.
Allan (04:43):
Yeah.
Ida (04:43):
And ones that work offline Potentially yeah.
Allan (04:45):
More secure, always available.
It could really change how weinteract with AI on our phones.
Ida (04:49):
Game changer, okay, and for people who love automation,
shortcuts.
Allan (04:53):
Oh yeah, shortcuts get a massive boost.
You can now embed Appleintelligence directly into them.
Ida (04:58):
Like, use the writing tools or image, playground or even
chat GPT.
Allan (05:04):
All of the above.
You build it right into yourautomated flows.
This could genuinely changeworkflows, make complex stuff
happen with just a tap.
Ida (05:12):
Seriously recommend people check that out then, even if
automation seems a bit daunting.
Allan (05:17):
Definitely it could save you a ton of time on everyday
tasks.
Turn those multi-step thingsinto one-button actions.
Ida (05:23):
Nice.
Okay, sticking with making thephone smarter.
Language barriers Livetranslation looks pretty
impressive.
Allan (05:31):
It really does.
It's integrated across theboard.
Now Messages.
It'll auto-translate text backand forth FaceTime.
You get live captions poppingup Phone calls, spoken
translations.
Ida (05:43):
And the AirPods thing.
That sounds kind of sci-fi.
How does that work?
Allan (05:46):
Right.
So if you have the rightAirPods that's Pro 2, pro 3, or
AirPods 4, with noisecancellation and the latest
firmware, you can have areal-time face-to-face
conversation with someonespeaking another language.
You speak, your AirPodstranslate into their ear.
They speak, it translates backinto yours.
Ida (06:02):
Whoa, that's incredible.
It removes a lot of friction.
Allan (06:05):
Totally.
And, on a related note, appleIntelligence is summarizing
voicemails.
Now, too Little summaries popup with the missed call.
Saves you listening to thewhole thing.
Ida (06:15):
That's handy.
What languages are we talkingfor live translation?
Allan (06:19):
For the AirPods feature.
It's starting with English,french, german, portuguese and
Spanish Messages.
Supports a wider set includingChinese, italian, japanese,
korean.
More are likely coming.
Ida (06:32):
So definitely worth turning on automatically translate in
messages or grabbing thosecompatible AirPods if you talk
to people internationally.
Allan (06:40):
Absolutely.
And then there's visualintelligence.
It's not just for your photosanymore.
Ida (06:44):
It works on screenshots now .
Allan (06:45):
Yeah, take a screenshot and visual intelligence can
identify stuff in it.
Search for similar imagesonline or even like ask chat,
gpt questions about what's onyour screen.
Ida (06:55):
Turn a screenshot into like an interactive search Pretty
much.
Allan (06:58):
It's making static images much more dynamic and useful.
You can even spot dates, times,locations and screenshots and
suggest calendar events.
Ida (07:05):
Oh, that's smart.
Currently just for Englishimages.
You said.
Allan (07:08):
For the calendar suggestions.
Yeah, starting with English.
So for you, take a screenshot,tap the preview and look for
those.
Ask, search or highlight tosearch options.
Super quick way to get info.
Ida (07:19):
Love it.
Okay, let's talk fun stuff.
Genmoji image playground.
Allan (07:24):
Yeah, the creative side gets a boost too.
Genmoji lets you mash upexisting emoji, two or more.
Add some text, maybe to createtotally new ones.
Ida (07:32):
Like a custom emoji generator.
Allan (07:34):
Kind of, and you can even tweak expressions using faces
from your photos library, whichis slightly weird, but also kind
of cool.
Ida (07:40):
Uh-huh, okay so robot emoji plus party papa, plus my dog's
face.
Theoretically yes, thepossibilities are pretty wild,
and Image Playground getsOpenAI's image generator built
in so you can use presets likewatercolor oil or just type what
you want.
Allan (07:56):
Exactly Create images from text prompts or use it to
generate messages, backgrounds,even Genmoji, directly within
Image Playground.
Ida (08:02):
Okay, how do you get started with Genmoji?
Allan (08:04):
Easiest way is in messages.
Tap the emoji button, then hitGenmoji.
Try mixing like an emotion withan object.
You get ways.
In messages.
Tap the emoji button, then hitGinmoji.
Try mixing like an emotion withan object.
You get some fun results.
Ida (08:12):
Will do Now the catch All this cool AI stuff.
Allan (08:17):
Ah, yes, the catch.
It's a big one.
Ida (08:20):
It doesn't work on all phones running iOS 26.
Allan (08:22):
Nope, these specific Apple intelligence features, the
advanced stuff we've beentalking about, requiring an
iPhone 15 Pro or newer.
Ida (08:30):
Wow, so iPhone 15 standard doesn't get it, or iPhone 14 Pro
no.
Allan (08:34):
Meets the 15 Pro chip or better, it definitely creates a
split in the user base.
How Apple manages that goingforward will be interesting to
watch.
Ida (08:42):
Huge detail for listeners.
Okay, shifting gears slightly.
The practical stuff batterylife performance Always a worry
with major updates.
Apple actually put out astatement right.
Allan (08:51):
They did, yeah, basically explaining why you might see
your battery draining fasterright after updating to iOS 26.
Ida (08:58):
And it's normal.
Allan (08:59):
It is initially.
Your phone gets warmer, batterydrains quicker.
It's doing a lot in thebackground indexing files,
downloading stuff, updating apps.
All that setup work.
Ida (09:08):
So don't panic, right away.
Allan (09:09):
Exactly, Give it a day or two.
It should settle down.
Ida (09:12):
But they also mentioned longer term impacts.
Allan (09:14):
Yeah, they acknowledged that if you heavily use the new,
more demanding features, itcould have a longer-term effect
because, well, those featuresneed more power.
They said it depends onindividual usage, which is
careful wording.
Ida (09:27):
Very careful and there's speculation, isn't there, that
maybe the liquid glass lookitself is part of the issue.
Allan (09:33):
There is Some testers and users are suggesting that this
visually intensive UI you knowall the translucency and effects
might just inherently use moreprocessing power, potentially
impacting battery lifepermanently for some users.
Ida (09:47):
So the statement might be partly covering for the visual
demands, not just the AI.
Allan (09:52):
It's possible it could be Apple managing expectations,
acknowledging that this fancynew look has a resource cost,
even if you're not hammering theAI features.
Ida (10:00):
Interesting.
So practical advice let yourphone settle for a few days
post-update If the drainpersists.
Think about how you're usingthose new features and maybe
check out adaptive power mode insettings.
Allan (10:11):
Good call.
It can help manage thingsautomatically.
Ida (10:13):
Okay, let's dive into some app specifics.
Messages got more than justtranslation, right.
Allan (10:19):
Oh yeah, custom backgrounds for chats
Individually for people orgroups.
Ida (10:24):
Nice.
But wait, everyone in the chatsees the background you set.
Allan (10:29):
They do so choose wisely, especially for work chats.
Ida (10:33):
Definitely noted.
How do you set them?
Allan (10:35):
Tap the name at the top of the chat, then backgrounds,
and you can also turn off seeingother people's custom
backgrounds if you find themdistracting.
Ida (10:43):
Good option.
What else in messages?
Allan (10:46):
Polls.
You can create polls rightinside a chat now and typing
indicators.
Finally, come to group chats.
Ida (10:51):
How about time for typing indicators?
Okay, phone app.
Allan (10:55):
A couple of really useful things.
Call screening lets your iPhoneask unknown callers for their
name and why they're callingbefore it rings for you.
Great for spam.
Ida (11:03):
Oh, that's brilliant.
Allan (11:05):
And an on hold tool.
If you put on hold, your phonewill basically wait for you and
alert you when a real personcomes back on the line.
Ida (11:11):
That might be the best feature yet.
Saves so much time.
Allan (11:14):
Where do you turn on call screening?
Ida (11:16):
In phone section of the settings app.
Definitely worth enabling and.
Allan (11:20):
AirPods besides the translation Right, assuming
you've got the firmware updateon those compatible models Pro 2
, pro 3, airpods 4.
You get auto-pausing if youfall asleep wearing them and you
can use them as a remoteshutter for your iPhone camera.
Ida (11:34):
Handy Safari updates.
Allan (11:36):
Mostly the liquid glass.
Look rolling out there.
Some tab bar tweaks, usualprivacy enhancements.
Quick tip If you hate the newcompact tab bar, you can switch
back to the old style and Safarisettings.
Ida (11:48):
Good to know Apple Maps.
Allan (11:50):
Getting smarter?
What Learns your commute, givesbetter traffic alerts, saves
location history.
If you wanted to Morepersonalized, Notes and
reminders.
Notes gets weirdly specificwith 3d graphics.
Support for three variableequations.
Ida (12:02):
Sheesh very.
Allan (12:03):
Yeah, reminders apparently has some hidden Apple
intelligence stuff lending yourhabits.
Camera app UI changed quite abit too for switching modes and
accessing settings, streamliningthings time new card style,
look call screening.
Like the app, an option toblock nudity, useful for kids'
devices and those livetranslation captions.
Apple Music gets auto-mix forsmoother transitions between
(12:25):
songs.
Like a DJ Plus, lyrictranslation and pronunciation
features More interactive.
Ida (12:31):
Photos I heard good news here.
Allan (12:33):
Yes, big one for many users.
Collections and Photos Libraryare back to being separate tabs,
undoing a previous changepeople didn't love, and it
supports those spatial scenestoo.
Great Podcasts app, liquidglass design, naturally, new
playback speed controls and somedialogue enhancement features
to make voices clearer.
Ida (12:52):
Wallet anything major.
Allan (12:53):
Digital passports are starting to be supported in some
places and boarding passes areimproved, apparently integrating
better Plus a whole new appGames.
Ida (13:02):
Oh, a dedicated Games app pre-installed, Yep.
Allan (13:05):
Pulls together your App Store games.
Apple Arcade stuff has socialfeatures too One central hub for
gaming.
Ida (13:10):
And finally alarms and ringtones.
Anything new.
Allan (13:13):
New reflections, variations for ringtones and a
new alarm sound called LittleBird.
And maybe the best tip, you canfinally customize this news
duration no way, not just nineminutes yep, one minute, five,
ten up to fifteen your choicenow in the clock app hallelujah,
okay, crucial question timecompatibility.
Ida (13:33):
Who gets left out with iOS 26?
Allan (13:35):
yeah, unfortunately it's the end of the line for the
iPhone XS, XS Max and the iPhoneXR.
They won't get iOS 26.
Ida (13:42):
Okay, xs and XR series out.
Bummer for those folks who doesget it.
Allan (13:46):
Good news is it's a pretty wide range, starts from
the iPhone 11 series goes allthe way up to the latest iPhone
17 series Air Pro, romaxincluded, and the iPhone SE
second generation and newer.
Ida (13:58):
So most phones from the last what five or six years are
covered.
Allan (14:02):
Generally yeah, but and we have to stress this again-
the Apple intelligence features.
Exactly.
Just because your phone runsiOS 26 doesn't mean you get all
the flashy AI stuff thatrequires the iPhone 15 Pro or
newer.
It creates that clear feature.
Divine Got it.
Ida (14:16):
But so, wrapping this up, we've covered the liquid glass
visuals, the powerful Appleintelligence features and who
gets them battery life stuff,tons of app updates.
Allan (14:24):
It's a massive update, no question.
Ida (14:26):
So for you listening, iOS 26 offers a real mix New
aesthetics, some potentiallygame-changing AI tools, lots of
practical tweaks.
It's really about making youriPhone potentially smarter, more
personal, maybe more efficient.
Allan (14:39):
And as these devices get smarter, with AI running right
on the phone, privately, it doesmake you think, doesn't it?
How does this change ourrelationship with technology,
these private, local AIs?
What are the unexpectedbenefits going to be?
Or maybe, what are thetradeoffs we haven't even
thought of yet, as your phonebecomes less of a tool and more
(15:00):
of a?
Well an intelligent companion.
Ida (15:03):
Definitely something to ponder as you start exploring
iOS 12 and 6 on your own device.
That's been our deep dive fortoday.
Hope you feel ready to tackleall the new features.
Allan (15:10):
Yeah, dive in and see what works for you.
Ida (15:11):
Until next time, keep exploring.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com